Every adventure has some favorite moments. Share a cup of tea with Ben and me as we chat about some of our fondest memories bringing Jane Austen’s Dragons to audiobooks.

Ben and I have chatted A LOT through the process of getting these first two audiobooks done and share some stories along the way. I thought it would be fun to share some of our fondest memories of the process with you. BUT before I forget, one important announcement!

I’ll start since one of mine is at the very beginning of the process. Listening to the audition snippets, I’ll always remember the chills-on-the-back-of-my-neck feeling hearing April and Longbourn voiced for the first time. I had always ‘heard’ them through the written word, but literally hearing them was an amazing moment. Then hearing them through each chapter, growing and developing. It’s hard to put into words -mg

When Maria got my initial recording of Pemberly’s voice at the end of book 1, Maria thought it sounded like Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors). I wasn’t very sure about the voice I had selected either, so I had no problem redoing it for her. Now what we’re going for is a little closer to Littlefoot (Land Before Time). 

Usually Ben is spot on with the new dragon voices, but Pemberley was a tough one. One the one had, she’s a big dragon, so needs a ‘big’ dragon voice. On the other hand, she’s a baby and needs a baby voice. A difficult combination for sure.

The first attempt made me giggle as I really did hear Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors–I made hubby listen to it, too, just to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind, which is an ever present possibility. He agreed.

When I talked to Ben about it, he agreed he wasn’t happy with it, but then asked the DREADED question–what should Pemberley sound like?

Since I am neither a sound tech nor a musician, I quickly discovered my vocabulary for describing sound was VERY limited. Embarrassingly so. I found myself reverting to a basic strategy to communicate with someone who speaks a language I don’t–point to what you mean. So I started searching for things that sounded like a baby dragon.

Thankfully–and I never thought I’d EVER say that–when my kids were little, they liked the Land Before Time movies about baby dinosaurs. What better starting point for a baby dragon than a baby dinosaur! Yes! Houston we have lift off!–mg

When she initially released a preview of the Pemberley audiobook on her website, one of her followers thought I was Richard Armitage (North & South, Thorin Oakenshield from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit).  As an Idahoan who has never even left North America, I was flattered. I guess I must be doing something right.

That was pretty awesome wasn’t it?

I loved doing the proof listening for both the audiobooks, except that I’d get so carried away listening that I forgot I was supposed to be reading along with the manuscript and I’d have to stop and go back over and over sections that I enjoyed too much. LOL -mg

In the middle of recording Chapter 8 of Longbourn, I heard a vague tapping at the window of my recording booth.  I was in the middle of a rather fraught with emotion section & I thought in the back of my head vaguely that I’ll push through to a good stopping place & see what it was.  Then I glanced up.  It was 9:30 at night, dark outside, and a pair of eyes were staring at me in the window. 

I uttered a cry of terror quite possibly unlike any other shriek I have ever uttered.  Once my non-primal brain woke back up, I realized it was that adorable freshman I fell in love with peeking in at me & I started laughing in a breathy-recovering-from-terror kind of way.  And now its recorded for posterity complete with my love’s delightful giggle as she entered my booth to make sure I wasn’t dead. I took a ten minute break with her, sprayed my throat with some magic stuff & finished the rest of the chapter. Never a dull moment.

When Ben told me this story and I listened to the blooper reel above, I confess, I laughed until I cried. But I get it. When I’m writing a particularly intense scene, sometimes I’ll shut my eyes as I type. One of my guys will come in and say something and it elicits a scream from me much like Ben’s!–mg

In producing Longbourn, voicing a conversation of Fairy Dragons & getting their voices to pass muster with both myself & Maria is somewhat maddening.  Senseless little bits of fluff.

When I wrote that fairy dragon conversation, I never thought about the implications of it all for audiobooks. Trying to get three fairy dragons to all sound different and still like fairy dragons is quite a bit more challenge that it would seem at first glance. They are irritating flutter-tufts at times. LOL-mg

Some of my other favorite things are reading the reviews on the audiobooks for Pemberly on Audible and finding out I’m now one of someones 3 favorite narrators.  Aww, thanks.

My very favorite dragons to voice in the series are Walker, Longbourn (even though he’s a brat) Drew, Cait & Rosings, and Chudleigh.  It also might interest listeners to know that for Lady Catherine, Rosings & Cait, I use the exact same voice & similar inflections & then speed them up or slow them down for the character.

I thought it was so fitting that those three had the same base voice to work from. They are very similar characters in a lot of ways!

I loved hearing the Dragon Conclave and all the scenes that led up to it at the end of the book. There were so many characters, human and dragon involved that all the voices could easily have just blended together, but each one was so clear and distinct. It was just amazing and I found myself smiling and laughing in all the right parts!-mg

In looking forward to more books in the Jane Austen’s Dragons series, I’m excited that Maria is branching out to Persuasion & Northanger Abbey.  I can’t wait to see what she does! I’d still love it if she expanded the universe even more – you know, Victor Hugo’s Dragons… Jack London’s Dragons… But she can only write so fast. 🙁

I’ve got a bunch more plot notions knocking around for this series. At least four at the moment. That ought to keep me (and Ben on the audiobooks side) busy for a while. ;)-mg

I also love the idea that Pemberly is still alive & kicking today.  My theory is that she runs the Westminster Dog show with whoever her current keeper is.

That is the cutest idea ever! I swear IF I ever write a modern dragon story that will be a part of it!

A huge thanks to Ben for being a creative partner in this endeavour. It’s a rare and exciting thing to have someone to hash out creative ideas with (and not have them secretly rolling their eyes at you!)-mg

  Thank you so much Maria for letting me be a part of this universe you’ve created, and thank you readers & listeners for all your feedback on our audiobooks.  I hope you love Jane Austen’s Dragons as much as I do!

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